Commissioned by Aletia.org, Whimsical Images Now Available for iOS and Android

New York, September 10, 2015 – Swyft Media, the company helping brands and advertisers become a part of the world’s largest conversation, today announced the availability of Popemoji. Designed to celebrate Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to the U.S. from September 22-27, 2015, the Popemoji keyboard features 52 emoji and 14 GIFs of Pope Francis and is available now for free in the Apple® iTunes® App Store and Google™ Play Store. Swyft Media Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Monotype Imaging Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: TYPE).

Commissioned as a part of a “Good is Winning” initiative by global Catholic network Aleteia.org, the keyboard features various emoji of Pope Francis doing this like heading a soccer ball, taking selfies with the crowd and visiting the Liberty Bell, United Nations and Washington Monument.

“Emoji are so ingrained in digital and social language, particularly among young people, that it was natural to make them an element of our digital effort to support Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S. Besides, the Pope has a great sense of humor, is totally approachable and dedicated to engaging people where they communicate,” said Kathleen Hessert, founder of Sports Media Challenge, which is overseeing the digital aspect of Aleteia.org’s effort. “By engaging millennials, we’ll enable new conversations throughout Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S, with the goal of keeping that community involved in a dialogue over the long term. Swyft Media is a leader in this space and its successes in these mediums with cool and creative branded content made them a natural partner for us in this once-in-a-lifetime project.”

Pope Francis is scheduled to touch down in the U.S. on September 22, 2015, and visit Washington D.C., New York City and Philadelphia during his five-day trip. The PopeIsHope Digital Street Team, assembled by Aleiteia.org, will capture the spirit of how Pope Francis interacts with the crowds in each city and will use digital storytelling to inspire young people to be a part of the “Good is Winning” movement – before, during, and after the Pope departs from the U.S. – by highlighting acts of courage, dignity, kindness, and mercy in every day life.

“We understand what kind of content millennials and young consumers want, and more importantly want to share, and we’re very excited that Swyft Media’s technology is at the center of one of the biggest events of the year in the U.S.,” said Evan Wray, co-founder and vice president at Swyft Media. “What better way to bring such a monumental event to the digital generation than through emoji that capture the personality and sentiment of such an important figure. Pope Francis is a larger-than-life individual and the stickiness and viral effect of this campaign should be off the charts.” Swyft Emoji Keyboards help brands and advertisers create a fun, non-intrusive and emotional connection with consumers by allowing them to take their favorite character, brand, sports team or icon with them wherever they go. Whether consumers are using iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, LINE, WeChat or any other number of messaging apps, they now have the power to share content from their favorite branded emoji keyboard.

About Author

Lisa M. Hendey is the founder and editor of CatholicMom.com and the bestselling author of the Chime Travelers children's fiction series, The Grace of Yes, The Handbook for Catholic Moms and A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms. As a board member and frequent host on KNXT Catholic Television, Lisa has produced and hosted multiple programs and has appeared on EWTN and CatholicTV. Hendey hosted “Catholic Moments” on Radio Maria and is the technology contributor for EWTN’s SonRise Morning Show. Lisa's articles have appeared in Catholic Digest, National Catholic Register, and Our Sunday Visitor. Hendey travels internationally giving workshops on faith, family, and Catholic technology and communications topics. She was selected as an Elizabeth Egan Journalism Fellow, attended the Vatican Bloggers Meeting, the “Bishops and Bloggers” meeting and has written internationally on the work of Catholic Relief Services and Unbound. Hendey lives with her family in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Visit Lisa at www.LisaHendey.com for information on her speaking schedule or to invite her to visit your group, parish or organization.

1 Comment

These are too cute! I installed them to my Android phone. I like that I can choose the apps where the emoji can be used. Many of these are not Papal-visit-specific, so this app will be fun to keep around long after Pope Francis returns to the Vatican.